Bicycle Friendly Community
I’m not despairing because in the past three days I’ve met with several mayors and numerous council members, and strategized with dedicated staff and advocates. I’ve had loaner bikes delivered from three different bike stores, and drank free craft beer and pizza at a bike center. I made the front page news of The Anniston Star, and even got to join 30 club riders on a Tuesday evening ride! And I won’t even tell you about my trip down to Fairhope to deliver an evening presentation or the special reception hosted by Alabama Bikes. Dear reader, if you think I’m just making the best and enduring a challenging stretch of my journey across the country, making visits to cities and towns that could never be mistaken for Bicycle Friendly Communities, you would be wrong. In fact, the opposite is true.
What does this award mean to you and to Salt Lake City? This award is an affirmation that Salt Lake City is on the right track. The City’s Transportation Division has been working tirelessly to implement progressive infrastructure projects and new programs to get more people riding. There is still a long road ahead to create a city where all people feel comfortable riding, but the silver designation serves as an important benchmark and an opportunity to refocus efforts among the city staff and bicycle advocates.
In February, I was invited to attend both the World Bicycle Forum in Medellin, Colombia, and the League’s National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. As the only African represented at both these forums, it was with great curiosity that I presented to and gleaned knowledge from those who have navigated the advocacy space for much longer than me. Initially almost every workshop session and talk in Medellin bore reference to Copenhagen. From gender split to trip generation percentages — with the requisite baguette and basket imagery, of course! — it was always there. Until a question from the audience changed everything. “Can we please talk about our own country and let Copenhagen be?” A nervous bundle of applause cascaded into a unanimous agreement from the 2,000 strong auditorium of advocates, activists and all those positioned somewhere in between. Thinking had shifted. It was a coming out of sorts: a great day for change makers in the Global South.
Our Tribal Citizens are well integrated into the non-Tribal community but are still a distinct, independent tribal nation. As a community we celebrate the history and culture of the Tribe, past and present. Cycling represents a modern self-reliant mode of travel that is affordable and has great health benefits. Becoming more bike friendly is a way to promote independence and fitness and advocate for outdoor recreation, both our Tribal Citizens of all ages.
Last week, we announced the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Communities. Chicago, IL is one of the 42 new and renewing communities this round, and the Silver-level community has made a lot of strides since the last application period four years ago. We caught up with Ron Burke, the executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago, to talk about where the Windy City has improved and where it still needs a lot of work to be a truly bicycle-friendly place.
This week, we announced the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Communities. Louisville, KY, is one of the 42 new and renewing communities this round, and the new Silver-level community is aiming to be the best in the region. We caught up with John “Rolf” Eisinger, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, and with Chris Glasser, President of Bicycling for Louisville, to talk more about what this award means to the city and where they will go from here to reach Gold!
This week, we announced the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Communities. Memphis, TN, is one of the 42 new and renewing communities this round, and the new Bronze-level community is aiming to be the best in all of Tennessee. The effort has been spearheaded from many angles, including the city government and a robust advocacy group. We caught up with Kyle Wagenschutz, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, and with John Paul Shaffer, Program Director at Livable Memphis, to talk more about what this award means to the city and where they will go from here to reach Silver!
Today the League of American Bicyclists announced 42 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC). With this new round, 69 million people live in a Bicycle Friendly Community. These new awardees join a leading group of more than 350 communities in all 50 states that are improving health, safety and quality of life in cities and towns nationwide.
Imagine: It’s the year 2020. In Fort Collins, Colorado, one in every five people travels by bike — and there are zero bicycle-related fatalities. The foundation for achieving this vision, set forth in the city’s 2014 Bicycle Master Plan, is a low-stress bicycling network: a comfortable, safe and connected system of world-class bicycle infrastructure, accessible to all residents and visitors, aged 8 to 80.
I think we can all agree: Movement is essential to the human condition… Americans, especially American drivers in the Frontier, like to believe they are free to move, but I have found free and equal mobility to be a myth. Some are in charge of it. Some are excluded or even imprisoned by it.